The venomous copperhead snake: As someone who grew up in Limerick, a bite from Mrs O’Leary’s unhinged Jack Russellwas the most dangerous confrontation with nature an afternoon might present. Photograph: iStock
When I came home from Australia for a visit last autumn, my brother and I took a road trip. Siblings in their 30s and 40s will recognise the rarity of this. He has two small children – a five-year-old girl with a vocal curiosity about the world and a secret hope that unicorns are real, and an energetic, water-loving three-year-old boy with severe special needs and a deep passion for blueberries.
My brother and sister-in-law run a business together – their house is full of noise and motion. Like so many people of my generation with a young family, they run at full tilt just to keep up.
A visit home from Australia is costly, time-consuming and challenging to arrange.
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